Stewardship Tip March 2007

Spring cleaning is good stewardship! Lent is a perfect time to do some spring cleaning. 

Start with your physical space. As you scrub things clean in preparation for Easter, make a detailed list (for a later parish “fix-up day,” perhaps) of anything that needs to be repaired, refurbished or replaced – anything that “just cleaning” doesn’t fix. Reclaim some space – in most parishes, storage space always seems to be in short supply. Check the sacristy and the ushers’ closet and throw out or re-cycle anything that’s no longer in current use. Are there tattered art and environment supplies, too shabby to re-use?  Old hymnals and missalettes or stacks of last month’s bulletins taking up valuable space? Be equally ruthless in the parish office, discarding out-dated pamphlets, obsolete office machines, and leftover supplies for equipment you no longer own. Box up any useful items for the parish rummage sale or the “trash & treasures” booth at your festival – or take them to the local Goodwill or Salvation Army store. Investigate and take advantage of e-waste and toxic trash recycling in your area to get rid of old computer hardware and any leftover paint or chemicals from the maintenance shed.

Then move on to your virtual space. This is a great time to clean up the parish census. Perhaps it’s as simple as searching out and supplying missing titles or salutations in the database; maybe it’s as thorough as planning an old-fashioned door-to-door census or generating and sending to each household the data you have and asking that it be updated and returned. Or perhaps it’s just deciding to make a conscious and consistent effort to add additional information – e-mail addresses or updated sacramental and demographic information, for example – so that, as the available data increases, you can disseminate information more efficiently or expand your pastoral outreach.

And don’t forget your inner space.... Lent is a perfect time to “spring clean” your soul, too, by seeking out the sacrament of reconciliation or participating in your parish communal reconciliation service. Spring cleaning is good stewardship!